First Reaction: Magic Arena (MTGA)

Well, it's been awhile since I was here... but I haven't felt the urge to review anything for a while... Title is short and to the point, so keep reading for what it was like for an old school magic player in this new school arena.

Are you ready to duel? ... of the planeswalkers?

First off, the game is pretty generous with what it gives you. There are about 8 packs a week you can earn from various quests (like play so many cards of a certain color) and there is a $5 welcome bundle to get you started. I noticed there was a pauper event going on, which is building a deck out of all commons, so that is where I spent most of my time.

That's one way to use a lightning bug

Even though the deck is made out of commons, it's still not easy to build a good competitive deck to stand up to the slings and arrows of outrageous mana shortages. I first used red/white soldiers and tried to win quick. That plan failed miserably. During those games I did play against a deck that looked fun. It used a mechanic called surveil to do stuff. So I had a mission that I kind of backed into accepting it.

Darth Vader plays magic... and has a 100+ card deck apparently

Over the next few days, I was able to get some lucky pulls from packs along with using all of my common wildcards (a special card that allows you to trade one for any common in the game. You start with 8 I think, but cant recall the exact number) to make a decent deck. If you won 5 games with only one loss then you got a special art version of a rare card.

You can see my deck and the alternative art card 

to the right. The deck did its job and got me the 5 wins 4 times, but it wasn't easy. I've played magic irl for a long time, and I have never been this mana screwed/flooded. It's kind of nuts. Something I'd see in 1 out of 10 games now happens in 1 out of 3 or 4. It was so bad I looked it up to see if others were having this problem... which others do... and a shrug is usually the response to it.

 

I did have some weird technical issue with freezing, so I contacted support...

Not very helpful huh? Overall it's still magic, which is a good thing. It's very f2p friendly and the perfect time to start playing before they start adding a bunch of different card sets. My rating is waking up to a nice day with a smile that doesn't quite reach my eyes.

The END 

First Reaction: Wārudo Torigā aka World Trigger

Osamu Mikumo (far right of the picture) is a high school kid who has joined an agency called Border. This agency protects Mikado City and stops any attacks by Neighbors. Neighbors are what they call monsters that come through portals from an alternate dimension to attack the city for unknown reasons. To fight these monsters, Border agents use something called a Trigger. The origin of Triggers are somewhat secret. Each Trigger is different and of varying strengths depending on the person's inborn Trion level (my first thought was midi-chlorians from star wars). Could be guns, swords, any weapon really. Osamu meets a new transfer student named Yūma Kuga (next to Osamu on the right in the picture). Yuma doesn't know much about how the world works, for a spoiler-ish reason,  and Osamu starts teaching him his view on right and wrong.

A giant silk worm? RUN!

Now, that was quite a bit of jargon they throw at you fairly quick. All of it boils down into your basic shonen. So far through 5 episodes, the show is alright. The characters lack depth and the story isn't very interesting, but I can't really say it's bad. I'd just say it can be boring since the show is highly predictable. Each character takes a role and there is no development from that role. I do have some hope it will get better. I like the fights and am curious about how the show will deal with Yuma when Border learns of his existence. I don't like the use of CGI, since it looks incredibly out of place (I've seen much worse though. 'Tegami Bachi" anyone?), and the characters personalities are incredibly predictable.

I'm ready for my close up

and that face... what does that even mean? Smug? Secretive? I'm a boss? That expression is used everywhere so you have been warned. The op is what I call a "dance party" opening. Something like "A Certain Scientific Railgun" openings. It is techno beats designed to get you pumped for the show. I think it's fine and anytime I hear whoa in an opening I now think of "Log Horizon". That's a good thing...I guess. Take a look for yourself, and thanks for reading.

Best of the Rest: Anime of 2013

A lot of good anime came out in 2013, but what about the rest? Well, that is what I'm here to talk about one last time. Once again I'll look through all of the series' from 2013 and choose one title. This title will be one I think is worth watching, even if it does have major flaws, that you may have missed. That means I won't think it should be considered as one of the best, just the best of the rest. Hard to choose for this particular year...but I'll give it a try. What did I choose for this series finale? Well...

My choice for Best of the Rest  '13 is....

 

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi aka Sunday Without God

 

Made by Madhouse and directed by Yūji Kumazawa. Past works include "Oda Nobuna no Yabou" aka "The Ambition of Oda Nobuna".

The story is set in a world without death. That means a special person known as a "Gravekeeper" would have to bury you with their fancy shovel. If that didn't happen you would go on "living" no matter how much time went by or what happens to your body. There were also no more births, so the world was in this stagnant state. The story follows the journey of Ai Astin, a young gravekeeper, and Hampnie Hambart, an immortal (not just unburied immortal, but can regenerate injuries kind of immortal) gunslinger. They meet new people along the way as they travel the world with the goal of fulfilling her dream; saving the world from this deathless existence. She gets sidetracked though...a lot.

Now let me just say first, the show has a lot of plot holes and doesn't have a real conclusion. It is a "read the manga" ending to be sure. If I was rating the show on how good it was overall, it would be average at best. So, why did I choose it as something you should see as a "best of the rest"? Well. I'll explain.... First, it has a unique message along with interesting characters. The premise is wonderfully dark and is taken in surprising directions. The direction isn't always the best, and is sometimes needlessly confusing, but it IS interesting. The show covers a few arcs, most of which have a satisfying conclusion, but don't expect any kind of conclusion to Ai's main quest. They do cover why the world got to this point and the origin of Gatekeepers, so that's something. As I said earlier, the plot gets sidetracked often by whatever she comes across. It could be said the journey itself is the plot, like "Kino's Journey", but I think it would have been better to have more sense of progression than a completely new stand-alone arc to follow.
  

This show tries to be different, and succeeds for the most part. It can come off as a bit Moe, okay a lot Moe, at times, and the plot holes are large and obvious. If you can look past those faults, you'll find a memorable anime that can make you think. It has some beautiful artwork and a certain charm that even the best anime sometimes lack. For those reasons, I name it the Best of the Rest 2013...

...Just for the fun of it, I'll mention the other three choices I considered for 2013: Arata: The Legend, Samurai Flamenco, and Outbreak Company. Questions? Comments? Did I pick the wrong anime? Let me know in the comments if you'd like and thanks for reading. Here is the opening if you're interested.

Update: Upcoming Posts for Nov. 10-15

Hello once again. Bleu here and I'll just be briefly going over my plans for the week.

Monday: That last bad anime post took 2 days to finish, so taking the day off.
Tuesday: I'll be finishing up my "best of the rest" series with the 2013 edition.
Wednesday: There will be a first reaction to an anime currently airing.
Thursday: Game review. Probably on a telltale game. Wolf among us most likely.
Friday: Another first reaction to an anime currently airing or a complete review of something else not airing. May do this on Saturday instead.
Saturday: I'll probably take a break unless I move the Friday's post here.
Sunday: New up coming posts... post.

And those are my plans for the upcoming week. There could be a change at any time, but for now it looks solid. If you have a comment, suggestion, or whatever, be sure to leave it in the comments below. Until next time, Stay True.